Business for The Bonadio Group’s private equity practice naturally dipped during the financial meltdown several years ago.

The group helps companies mulling mergers and acquisitions and those looking to sell, recapitalize, or raise debt and equity capital. Bonadio announced a new partnership in March that it says will help grow its private equity work.

When the economy went south in 2008, all the deals the firm was working on at the time evaporated, says Jeff Lewis, a Bonadio partner and head of the firm’s private equity practice. Money for deals dried up as investors clutched their cash.

“We probably had half a dozen deals we were working on and every one just cratered,” he says.

The business began to recover in 2011 and looking forward, Lewis says demand is likely to surge. Bonadio’s clients have been asking for private equity services more and more, he notes.

“Over the next five to 10 years, there’s going to be unprecedented activity in the [mergers and acquisitions] space as the baby boomers begin to retire,” he says.

Rochester–based Bonadio has been offering private equity services for years and last year packaged them all under a single umbrella. About a dozen partners help Lewis with the work as needed.

Eventually, the firm is aiming to have a private equity specialist in each of its markets. Bonadio has additional offices in Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany, Geneva, Perry, New York City, and Utica.

The new partnership is with Decosimo Corporate Finance, LLC, the investment banking unit of Decosimo Certified Public Accountants, based in Chattanooga, Tenn. Decosimo will serve as Bonadio’s broker-dealer on transactions.

The partnership also involves Doeren Mayhew, an accounting firm with offices in Houston and Detroit.

All three firms will work together to develop and share best practices in investment banking and collaborate on transactions, according to Bonadio.

The relationship allows Bonadio clients access to networks around the country, Lewis says. Bonadio expects to work with Doeren and Decosimo to help local companies find potential buyers and investors.

The firm realized last year after it organized its private equity practice under a single banner that it needed to either start its own broker-dealer service from scratch for find a partner it could use, Lewis says. Starting the service alone would have created new regulatory burdens and been costly, he explains.

So Bonadio first began by speaking with traditional investment banking firms about partnerships. The firm eventually found Decosimo through Moore Stephens North America, an association of 50 accounting firms in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

Decosimo matched up better philosophically for Bonadio than traditional investment banks, which often don’t get paid unless a client completes a transaction with them, Lewis says.

“We don’t have to close a transaction in order to eat next week,” he notes.

Lewis says he’s already had conversations in some of Bonadio’s markets with private equity professionals looking to join up.

“The market seems to be taking notice that we’re in this space,” he says. “We think that’s a good sign.”

Bonadio has 400 employees and projected revenue of $54.9 million for its 2013 fiscal year.

Contact Tampone at ktampone@cnybj.com

SYRACUSE — It’s no longer only multimillion-dollar conglomerates that have operations spanning the globe, Dannible & McKee Managing Partner Anthony Dannible says.

“You’re dealing with a much more international flavor for almost every client because every client has expanded beyond the U.S. border,” he says.

And that doesn’t mean just a lonely sales office in Toronto either. Dannible says his accounting firm’s clients have operations in Mexico, South America, and Europe. Many Central New York manufacturers maintain joint ventures with firms in China.

Businesses like Dannible & McKee have to add international capabilities as well as a result. The firm announced in March it joined the Geneva Group International (GGI), a worldwide organization of law, accounting, and consulting firms based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Now, Dannible says, if a client of his firm with a site in Germany needs some audit work done overseas, Dannible & McKee can refer the local company to a GGI member. And can do so with confidence, Dannible notes.

The group’s members are vetted before they join the organization so the firms know all of the companies involved have met the same standards.

GGI members have 592 offices in 100 countries. Members range in size from 500 employees to 50. Syracuse–based Dannible & McKee employs 85 people.

It would be difficult, Dannible says, and maybe impossible for Dannible & McKee to form partnerships with firms around the world on its own. And there’s no way the firm could vet other businesses as carefully as GGI does, he adds.

“You have confidence that member that you’re working with has achieved certain professional standards,” he says.

Clients have been clamoring for more international services for at least five years, Dannible adds. One firm Dannible & McKee works with regularly has an operation in Brazil and another maintains operations in Puerto Rico.

The firm has also been working with an Italian company with operations in the Central New York area.

The membership in GGI could lead to new business opportunities for the firm. Other group members have already contacted Dannible & McKee about doing some local work for clients, Dannible says.

The group also offers a number of education opportunities for members, he adds. GGI maintains practice groups around topics like estate planning, international tax law, mergers and acquisitions, and more.

The group hosts conferences around the world so members can keep up on the latest news and trends in their businesses, Dannible says.

“You’re kept on the cutting edge of new developments,” he says. “That was important to us.”

Contact Tampone at ktampone@cnybj.com